The Cage - Part 2

You'll perhaps recall that at the end of last month I mentioned that a cage had sprung up at the end of my street, and they had dug up the children's playground to start renovations. Well, work continues, so I thought you might like to see an update. (The workman wielding the big mallet was highly amused when I appeared with my camera!) They have installed two climbing frames, several seats, the framework of two sets of swings, a mysterious metal pole, tons of topsoil and a blue port-a-loo (which I assume will be temporary!) There will be a winding path between what will be a toddler's playground and one for the bigger children. And at the bottom end they have levelled an area for ball games, all neatly fenced with a fancy looped metal railing.

So far, so good.... except that....when there was no proper 'goal' for the footballing lads, they used to use the swing frame as a substitute. You may remember this was up against the gable end of the houses (see blog March 1). Despite there being a whole gable end to aim at, plus netting on either side to a height of about eight feet, I still lost count of the number of times the football landed in my back yard further up the street.

And now, the goal-kicking will be aimed, not at a goal with a house wall behind it, but at a goal with a BUSY ROAD behind it! So, I wonder, how do they expect a three foot high perimeter fence plus a tiny bit of metal screening behind the 'goal end' of the football area to prevent the ball bouncing into the road? You can see what's going to happen - footballs continuously bouncing into the road, peril for car drivers, kids leaping over the fence to retrieve the ball....it doesn't bear thinking about! Don't the planners think about these kinds of things? I mentioned it in my feedback when I saw the plans. Clearly no-one listens. What's the point of something that looks nice, if it's dangerous?